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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : 240V Remote Control

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Keith @

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 167
Posted: 05:50am 26 Jun 2011
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Hi Guys

I've been busy creating a simple 240v wireless remote control which will eventually turn on or off a heating/cooling pad or refrigerator for a home brew. The temperature sensor to control the on/off would also be logged to the MM's SD card.

I purchased a Watts Clever remote control kit with 3 plug-in 240v switches but I suppose any like product would do. Cost $45 and I've still got 2 switches to use.

The advantage of going this way was to totally remove the 240v risk from the MM side.

I have taken from Geoff's "Battery Capacity Meter" ... using the 5.0v DIL relays to turn on and turn off by connecting the output of the relays to the button pads on the Watts Clever remote.

I have written a very simple program to test the concept and used a 500ms pause to reduce any problems with relay contact bounce before turning the pin off.

All works as I expected and the MM power usage is minimal as the relay is only momentarily activated.

I had some trouble with the PIN, SETPIN commands but the one that I found counter intuitive was the PIN() =0 or =1 where I was thinking that HIGH would turn the pin on and LOW would turn the pin off ... after some digging around and head scratching I worked it out.

Question ... Can anyone enlighten me on why PIN(x) works this way? PIN(0) according to the MM manual works in the correct sense.


The more we know, the more we know we don't know !
 
donmck

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Joined: 09/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1313
Posted: 06:39am 26 Jun 2011
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  Keith @ said   Hi Guys

I've been busy creating a simple 240v wireless remote control which will eventually turn on or off a heating/cooling pad or refrigerator for a home brew. The temperature sensor to control the on/off would also be logged to the MM's SD card.

Question ... Can anyone enlighten me on why PIN(x) works this way? PIN(0) according to the MM manual works in the correct sense.



A real world application Keith?

Not sure I am following your question however, and why you said PIN(0) works fine, but the others don't?

zero sets low, non-zero sets high.

I would prefer commands such as LOW and HIGH, but there are so many variants of Basic that users have experienced, we would all never agree on anything, so I'll go with what Mr Maximite wants it to be.

I am young, I'm flexible.

Cheers Don...
https://www.dontronics.com
 
Keith @

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 167
Posted: 07:27am 26 Jun 2011
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Don

From v2.4 manual ... PIN( pin ) = value ..... 'pin' zero is a special case and will always control the LED on the front panel. A 'value' of non zero will turn the LED on, or zero for off.

However, when I followed this logic trying to use PIN(11)=0 and SETPIN(11),9 it actually turns pin 11 on ie turns the relay on. Whereas PIN(11)=1 turns the relay off.

I suppose you are right in your answer that this is the way the MMBasic has been created ... I'm not being critical as much as letting people know what I have encountered.

I have not tried using PIN(0) to check the logic as listed above from the manual.

cheers
Keith
The more we know, the more we know we don't know !
 
Geoffg

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Joined: 06/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 3210
Posted: 07:36am 26 Jun 2011
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The reed relay is wired between 5V and the open collector output from the Maximite. When your program wants to turn on the relay it would have to pull the pin low so that +5V will appear across the relay. To make an output low you program PIN(x) = 0

So, due to the way the relay is wired up it inverts the output from the Maximite.

To make it easy you could define two variables like this:
10 RELAY_ON = 0 : RELAY_OFF = 1

Then you could use them in your program: PIN(x) = RELAY_OFF

This technique would also help Don:
10 LOW = 0 : HIGH = 1
20 PIN(x) = HIGH

Geoff
Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net
 
VK6MRG

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Joined: 08/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 347
Posted: 07:49am 26 Jun 2011
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I have one of these remote 240v switching devices, and I think it would be a perfect thing to incorporate into the WIB. Then using the digital out's, control the remote and the analogue in's to monitor current, voltage etc.
Its easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission!

............VK6MRG.............VK3MGR............
 
VK6MRG

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Joined: 08/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 347
Posted: 07:51am 26 Jun 2011
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By the way, as it a web server based device, no negative comments about wanting an Ethernet port for a web server option for the Maximite
Its easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission!

............VK6MRG.............VK3MGR............
 
sparkey

Senior Member

Joined: 15/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 819
Posted: 08:05am 26 Jun 2011
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it`s sposed to be home brew not tech brew constant tempreture would be a good idea but i did it for about four years and the trouble i found was the summer too extreeme it would stop fertmenting
technicians do it with least resistance
 
donmck

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Joined: 09/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1313
Posted: 08:08am 26 Jun 2011
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  Geoffg said  
This technique would also help Don:
10 LOW = 0 : HIGH = 1
20 PIN(x) = HIGH
Geoff


too easy Geoff,

Cheers Don...
https://www.dontronics.com
 
sparkey

Senior Member

Joined: 15/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 819
Posted: 08:16am 26 Jun 2011
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sorry i got confused overflow in the heat and stop ferm in the cold ....two stars i got a bit carried away ...sorry no more home brew chat
technicians do it with least resistance
 
RossW
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Joined: 25/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 495
Posted: 10:59am 26 Jun 2011
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  VK6MRG said   By the way, as it a web server based device, no negative comments about wanting an Ethernet port for a web server option for the Maximite


I argued for that but got yelled at, so maximite is totally off my radar now for the forseeable future. I'm developing for another board which I'll be using (and supplying to others) because it DOES have ethernet. Its not expensive either.

*shrug*. If the zealots *permit* development of something as *technical* as ethernet, then I might reconsider - but now that I've put all my efforts into an alternative product, it'd be unlikely.Edited by RossW 2011-06-27
 
VK6MRG

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Joined: 08/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 347
Posted: 12:24pm 26 Jun 2011
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The WIB is a PIC based device, so it shouldn't be to hard to add the Ethernet controller, MAC address chip and other bits onto an external board and mod the WIB firmware to suit the Maximite. Just a thought.
Its easier to ask forgiveness than to seek permission!

............VK6MRG.............VK3MGR............
 
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